Normal skin is firm, of moderate thickness, smooth, soft, and elastic, making it a desirable skin type. Oily skin has larger facial pores and more fat, giving it a shiny, greasy appearance. This type of skin is prone to facial infections but is less prone to wrinkles. Dry skin is fair, fine, and delicate, but it is dry, prone to wrinkling and damage, and more sensitive to physical and chemical factors, making it prone to allergies.
Additionally, there is a combination skin type, where the forehead and nose are oily (with excess oil and a shiny appearance), while other areas are dry, fair, and delicate, and sensitive to ultraviolet rays in sunlight. Approximately 80% of women have combination skin.
According to Traditional Chinese Medicine theory, from a constitutional perspective, oily skin is often associated with "internal dampness," whereas dry skin is characterized by an abnormal lack of body fluids, known as "dryness."
For those with oily skin, it is advisable to choose cool and neutral foods, such as winter melon, loofah, white radish, carrots, bamboo shoots, cabbage, bok choy, cabbage, lotus root, daylily, water chestnut, watermelon, pomelo, coconut, whitebait, chicken, and rabbit meat. It is best to eat less of spicy, warm, and greasy foods, such as cream, cheese, dairy products, preserved fruits, fatty pork, lamb, dog meat, peanuts, walnuts, longan pulp, lychees, walnuts, chocolate, cocoa, and curry powder. It is also recommended to use traditional Chinese herbs that remove dampness and clear heat, such as Poria, Alisma, Pearl, White Chrysanthemum, Coix Seed, Maifan Stone, and Reishi mushroom.
For those with normal or dry skin, it is advisable to eat more alkaline foods such as beans (like black soybeans, soybeans, and red beans), vegetables, fruits, and seaweed. It is best to eat less acidic foods from birds, beasts, and fish/shellfish, such as dog meat, fish, shrimp, and crab. It is recommended to use traditional Chinese herbs that invigorate blood and resolve stasis, as well as those that nourish yin, such as Peach Blossom, Peach Kernel, Angelica, Lotus Flower, Rose, Safflower, and Goji Berry, Solomon's Seal, Glossy Privet, Eclipta, Lily, Mulberry Mistletoe, and Mulberry.